Leader of Opposition, Mr Duma Boko says their mandate in Parliament in the next five years will be to build a foundation for change.

Responding to President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama’s State-of-the-Nation Address on November 18, Mr Boko said the opposition would hold government accountable for all its actions by monitoring and evaluating its work and subjecting it to the most rigorous scrutiny.

He also noted that they would intervene to sow seeds for fairness and excellence in the system. “We will lend our ideas, understanding that government will not embrace them as wholesomely as we would if we were in government, to nourish our current policies,” he added.

Mr Boko, also leader of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), told Parliament that the opposition would aance the rights of workers and people living with disabilities, women, and all forgotten people, as well as work to unite Batswana.

“This will not bring about wholesomely the change our people expect or demand from government but will begin to lay a foundation for the change we will fully effect when we are in government in 2019 through the implementation of our five pillars the education beehive, a clean and effective government, a humming economy, no one is left behind and happy and fulfilled families,” he said.

Furthermore, Mr Boko said workers had expected some indication that government had finally come round to taking them seriously as a partner in the country.

“They waited to hear that the state of affairs in which the laws and institutions regulating their relations with their employer were ignored would be a thing of the past.

No such message came through,” he said.

He further indicated that the nation had expected to hear a message in the speech that would inspire and energise, but were left in total disbelief as President Khama gave them “a speech overloaded with the same tired and empty promises he has delivered before.

“Meanwhile, Mr Boko urged and challenged Members of Parliament to attain and maintain a poise and manner that made it worthwhile to refer them as honourable. He also urged the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Gladys Kokorwe to act fairly in the conduct of the proceedings of the House.